Clearway Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CWEN) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Clearway Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CWEN) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $28.33.

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CWEN. StockNews.com lowered shares of Clearway Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Marathon Capitl reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Clearway Energy in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Clearway Energy from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Clearway Energy from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Clearway Energy from $33.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 19th.

Clearway Energy Stock Performance

CWEN opened at $23.14 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.68 billion, a PE ratio of 34.03 and a beta of 0.88. Clearway Energy has a twelve month low of $18.59 and a twelve month high of $31.72. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $22.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $23.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.72, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50.

Clearway Energy (NYSE:CWEN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The company reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $249.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $282.45 million. Clearway Energy had a net margin of 6.01% and a return on equity of 1.80%. Clearway Energy’s quarterly revenue was down 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.10 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Clearway Energy will post 0.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Clearway Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a $0.403 dividend. This represents a $1.61 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.97%. This is an increase from Clearway Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. Clearway Energy’s payout ratio is 236.76%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Se Totalenergies purchased 196,964 shares of Clearway Energy stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 28th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $22.86 per share, with a total value of $4,502,597.04. Following the purchase, the director now owns 295,235 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,749,072.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Clearway Energy

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CWEN. Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Clearway Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new stake in Clearway Energy during the 1st quarter worth approximately $37,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. purchased a new position in Clearway Energy during the 3rd quarter worth $42,000. Avalon Trust Co purchased a new position in Clearway Energy during the 4th quarter worth $47,000. Finally, Spirit of America Management Corp NY raised its position in Clearway Energy by 23.3% during the 3rd quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY now owns 5,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $112,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. 38.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Clearway Energy

Clearway Energy, Inc operates in the renewable energy business in the United States. The company operates through Conventional and Renewables segments. It has approximately 6,000 net MW of installed wind, solar, and energy generation projects; and approximately 2,500 net MW of natural gas-fired generation facilities.